my german shepherd has just been diagnosed with cdrm and im devastated i justdont know what to do

so sorry to hear this - there are a number of things you can do to help, including hydro therapy and some physio/chiropractor work seems to help some dogs.

thanks i understand there are things that may help im just having trouble knowing that theres no cure and she can get worse at any time ive had her nearly 11 years and the thought of not having her around is crippling me

Very sorry you've had such rotten news.
I found this site to be very helpful http://www.spanna.net/ lots of information and stories of other sufferers.

can understand that :-( lost my first shep at 12 with a bad heard, second at nearly 14, but still miss them both...

thanks guys its good to know there are people to talk too :)

thanks for the website it has helped put things in perspective more still cant help crying everytime i look at her though :(

Know only too well how that feels, I cried for 2 weeks when I found out my first dog had untreatable cancer, she was only 6.
Try and concentrate on how best to help her get as much out of her life as possible, you may still have her for a good time yet.

im trying already wrote a list for the vet on the best things to do for her and she already gets lots of love and care

So sorry to hear your terrible news.I so feel for you.
I have lost 3 Gsd.s in the last 2 years 2with cdrm & 1 with cancer.
My daughter also has a 10 year old with it at the moment,it is such a rotten thing to see them suffer,from being such energetic fun loving playfull dogs to not being able to control their back end is very hard to see.
Take every day as a blessing now ,it will be hard as we love them so ,stay strong for her ,give her all the love & best wishes from all .

aww no you must be devastated too its awful thing to watch especially when my dog has never had any health problems at all during her life she is nearly 12 now so i guess i am lucky she has had a good life up to now. i cant imagine how awful it has  been for  you im so sorry

My sisters GSD had this and I agree it is a dreadful condition. I think she kept the dog going for longer than she should have really. Naturally she wanted to keep her with her for as long as possible but I do think it was too long for the dog. In the end she had to let go. It was a difficult time. Make each and every day count and live her life to the full.

My Akita had this and at first we were devastated as, like you, you feel it's the end but it's not all bad.  Our lad deterioted very slowly so in actual fact, we had him probably just as long as if he didn't had it, he just had a funny, wobbly walk.  You can also buy boots to save their nails on the back foot if she is scraping them.  We just walked our dog on grass fields(drove there and back) and kept him off pavements as much as possible.  He hated the boots and would shake his foot to try and get them off.lol.

Myraf, so sorry to hear this. Many of us have been there, and this is a horrible disease. However at age 11 if the disease is in the very early stages you could be lucky and find that you still have her for most of the rest of her natural life, as DM can progress quite slowly, and also has a 'plateau' stage, where for a while they do not seem to get any worse.

I don't know what stage your girl is at right now. Anyway, below are a couple of links, the first is to a harness which although I haven't used it, looks as though it would be brilliant for a DM dog, as you can leave the back part on all of the time, it is supposed to be comfortable enough. It is made to measure (from the USA). A good harness just to help steady them in the later stages is incredibly helpful.  The second link is to a DM support website. Again, it is a US website, started by someone who has had 2 DM GSDs, and IMO is one of the most knowledgeable people on DM, in collaboration with Dr Roger Clemmons who is a research vet at the University of Florida who has researched and worked extensively with DM, and came up with a 'protocol' in terms of supplementation for DM dogs. There is a forum and a range of sections including one on diet and exercise regimes formulated by Dr Clemmons. Have a good browse through the whole site if you will, especially the diet and exercise protocols. 

http://www.hartmanharness.com/

http://mzjf.com/

I hope this is of some use to you. You have my heartfelt sympathy at having to deal with this disease, but I do hope you will have a progression which is slow and which will allow you good times with your girl.

thankyou all for all the tips and advice its good to know there is help and advice out there